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There are around 100 players playing in the Junior competition that currently comes from Ellenbrook that are playing for Baysie Wanneroo and even for clubs as far as West However there are no venue in ellenbrook that can currently support a rugby club so it wil be at least 2 years before something could happen
"now tubes has (in their wisdom) thrown massive support to two different breakaway clubs (kwinana and mandurah )yet they lament rockingham's, lack of fiscal viability, lack of junior numbers, susceptibility to contracting raids by other clubs etc. you can't have it both ways"
Dear Gigs,
I am not sure what your comment means about tubes or massive support for breakaway clubs. Please feel free to explain.
Pacman has pointed out that Mandurah was formed in 1994. Nearly 20 years ago. Get over it. They are some 20 or 30Kms away from Rocky and doing a great job of growing rugby. As to Kwinana why should a town of around 30,000 people and 20-30kms away from the Rockingham Rugby club not have a club of their own. Kwinana are probaly closer to Southern Lions. Don't hear them whinging.
Rockingham's lack of financial viability....... blame it on Mandurah start up 20 years ago... Please!! Try blaming it on the people actually managing the funds.
As to Juniors. From what I have read here on TWF this is not about Juniors it is about a lack of seniors and senior teams.
Contract raids?? Rocky have retained their core players for much of the last 10 years. All clubs are at each others throats about player movements between clubs. Rocky are arguably better placed than most because of their location.... But happy players don't move.
I am sure there is plenty of blame to go around for a whole combination of reasons, but at the end of the day a Club is responsible for its own success or failure.
Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.
that is correct This player waited untill returning from the State tour in a hope that Arks could field a team. An agreement has been made that this player can play for Wanneroo this year due to Arks not having enough players to enter a team. This player is still actively involved with Arks and are actually assisting in coaching a younger age group team at Arks as well. this player will go back to arks if Arks can get there U15's up and going and they managed to get a team for next year. This player had a choice to go to Palmyra, Kalamunda, Wanneroo or Rockingham. There are various other State players in the same situation Associates has just picked up a player from another club that also cannot field a team so there was an arrangement made there as well. It is all about ensuring the boys get game time and developing them to be better rugby players. There are lots of issues with the U15 age group this year due to Rugby League and PSA causing a lack of numbers at clubs, Rockingham has already withdrawn their second team due to lack of numbers. and one or 2 more teams might fold
I don't know any of the history, but what would have been good is if Rockingham could have made sure another club didn't appear on the doorstep. I was made aware that there was some form of discontent there which led to Kwinana appearing. If this could have been resolved, then there may have not been the need for any intervention.
What I find passing strange is that no official from Rockingham has seen fit to make any comment one way or the other, but I suppose that's part of their problem.
I wouldn't be too complacent about any club's security in the current climate. Especially not Wanneroo.
What was that famous and poignant poem penned by Martin Niemoller, albeit in a different context?
"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there wasn't anyone left to speak for me."
Ok it appears my auto spell has got in the way of my rant a bit.
Yes mandurah was 20 years ago, and yes, they have made a great fist of what they have in front of them (a part of me suggests that with the local demographic Mandurah might be the club to stay) but really, the Mandurah club exists for the same reason as the Kwinana club, a splinter group who were unhappy with Rocky's way of doing things.
Now, I'm not actually an apologist for Rocky, I was involved with Rocky juniors and there were some real discontent when I was there, my understanding is that the discontent was what caused Kwinana to form. The fact remains that three clubs are servicing a pretty small area which might have pretty good junior numbers, but seems to be a bit light in seniors.......maybe helping Rocky sort out some of the hassle would have been a better approach, rather than allowing the breakaway group a foothold.
As for massive support for the fledgling clubs. Hosting the Tonga trial at mandurah could easily be interpreted as a kick in the teeth (but I'm not close enough these days to judge) and even allowing Kwinana to form with the number at both clubs was a long shot.
I just don't think three clubs, who are at each others' throats is sustainable in the region and RugbyWA needs to bite the bullet and sort it out. My personal opinion is to maintain the three financial entities, but have them run as a feeder system into a reginal team (or maybe senior club, call it what you will) which competes in the Prems. A lot of toes will need to be stepped on, but it was inevitable when the governing body could allow such a fractured approach to develop that it would eventually end up with a clusterf#@k.
Of course the other approach is survival of the fittest!
C'mon the
The way Curtin and Arks are playing at the moment, its a shame one wasn't offered the opportunity to take Rocks spot in reserve grade....
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Thanks Gigs
I am someone who is in favour of new club start ups because they bring a lot of new people into Rugby. They may start out small and with malcontents, but they do bring a lot of new people in over time. Between Rocky, Kwinana and Mandurah there are some 600+ Juniors and Seniors.
If there was only one club down there I think there is no way it would get anywhere near that number.
Likewise no Joondalup and probably 500 less players in the North. Wanneroo opposed Joondalup's start up and now look, Wanneroo in Prems with 7 or 8 teams and fantastic junior numbers. Joondalup 4 teams I think Pacman said and 400 juniors. It is the hard work that people do that makes a new club a success.
With the allocation of fixtures lets not forget that part of the reason for Mandurah was Govt funding for Regional areas and over time Rocky have had a good run with RWA allocating finals toi Rocky.
Thanks again for your response. I can see much better where you are coming from. As long as we are quoting obscure philosophers "I may not like what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
Voltaire is as obscure as some here are transparent.
I think, for me, that sentence summaries your post. I'm not in favour of one club down here either. Nobody wants to travel from Kwinana to Mandurah for training with their 6 year old...that's just stupid, but the reality is that most of those players are juniors and there is a significant tail off into the seniors (well I'm about 6 years out of the loop, but it doesn't seem to have changed much)
Animosity between the clubs seems to continue, I guess that's no surprise with Kwinana but it might just be time for Rocky and Mandurah to suck it up.
It feels like there's only room for one PREMIER club down here, whichever one that is will Be the rich cousin and the other two will struggle. I don't think that's acceptable, which is why I think a feeder club system would work better. As long as all three clubs feel ownership of the premier team it'll work well.
C'mon the
The lack of response from the RRUFC should not be seen as a weakness especially in this forum
I read posts based on emotion and fear and hear say,people's comments reflect the state of there own clubs hiding behind smoke and mirrors as to wether this may happen to there own club.
The club has a strong committee and I'm sure in the right forum all will be revelled and this will give those responsible the right of reply, then we will see how much power the clubs have wether they get behind each other or will they run for cover to protect there own nest,have we let our game fall into
the hands of the crac or crap
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Rocky has approached mand a few times in the past but the original player who started the club cause he did'nt get to play in a invitational match always held a grudge and would always block any attempt not to sure now but ex players who are involved with and committee seem to still hold grudge .as for kwinana rugby WA should have just said no to them starting there u20s folded which was made up of rocky's 18s which is why no 20s for rocky now those players have been lost rugby WA were told this would happen but allowed it anyway. Putting the club in different divisions will only stretch club resources ie physio's volenteers the club has it's own bus but now play at two different venues so financially no longer viable supporters who have siblings in different teams.